Ottawa Mandarin School Adult Class 2011-12

1. Ottawa Mandarin SchoolAdult Class 2011-12 Week 02: September 23, 2011 Instructor: Daniel C. Lee Vowels, mother of rhymes 韻母

2. Plans • Review of Tones • Activity • Vowels sorted by pinyin • Tone activities for each a, e, i , o, u • Vowel activity

3. Activity 2.1 Passtones • Divide the class in group of 4-5 students. • A series of passwords (passtones) is given to the first person of the group. • The passtone is passed down through by mouth. If you are not sure about what you hear, ask for a repeat or even a “review” of the person before the person before you. • The last student of the chain writes down the passtones in number (e.g. 1-2-3-4) • The group with the most correct passtones wins!

4. Vowels • Zhuyin (注音符號), currently used in Taiwan, lists 16 vowels in Mandarin. ㄚ ㄛ ㄜ ㄝ ㄞ ㄟ ㄠ ㄡ ㄢ ㄣ ㄤ ㄥ ㄦ ㄧ ㄨ ㄩ • Pinyin (漢語拼音), currently used in Mainland China (and Taiwan), is NOT exactly equivalent to Zhuyin.

5. A-

6. Drillsfor each of the vowels, practice all 4 tones • (ㄚ) -a1, -a2, -a3, -a4 • (ㄞ) -ai1, -ai2, -ai3, -ai4 • (ㄠ) -ao1, -ao2, -ao3, -ao4 • (ㄢ) -an1, -an2, -an3, -an4 • (ㄤ) -ang1, -ang2, -ang3, -ang4

7. Activity 2.2 Tone calling (a) • (same group as before) Adapt a tone (1, 2, 3, 4). • Hold your tone on a piece of paper. • The instructor reads one of the vowels on the previous page. When your tone is called, stand up and hold your tone! • The first group to provide the correct answer gets one point!

8. E-

9. Drillsfor each of the vowels, practice all 4 tones • (ㄜ) -e1, -e2, -e3, -e4 • (ㄟ) -ei1, -ei2, -ei3, -ei4 • (ㄣ) -en1, -en2, -en3, -en4 • (ㄥ) -eng1, -eng2, -eng3, -eng4 • (ㄦ) -er1, -er2, -er3, -er4

10. Activity 2.2 Tone calling (e) • (same group) adapt a DIFFERENT tone (1, 2, 3, 4). • Same rules!

11. I- Note: As letter “E”, in the absence of consonants, “y” is added in front of “i” to make “yi”.

12. Drillsfor each of the vowels, practice all 4 tones • (ㄧ) -i1, -i2, -i3, -i4 • (ㄧ) yi1, yi2, yi3, yi4 • (ㄧㄚ) -ia1, -ia2, -ia3, -ia4 • (ㄧㄝ) -ie1, -ie2, -ie3, -ie4 • (ㄧㄤ) -iang1, -iang2, -iang3, iang4 • (ㄧㄥ) -ing1, -ing2, -ing3, -ing4

13. Activity 2.2 Tone calling (i) • (same group) adapt a DIFFERENT tone (1, 2, 3, 4). • Same rules!

14. O-

15. Drillsfor each of the vowels, practice all 4 tones • (ㄛ) -o1, -o2, -o3, -o4 • (ㄡ) -ou1, -ou2, -ou3, -ou4 Note: • O is [a]ll, not letter O! • OU is letter O, not y[ou]!

16. Activity 2.2 Tone calling (o) • (same group) adapt a DIFFERENT tone (1, 2, 3, 4). • Same rules!

17. U- Note: In the absence of consonants, “w” is added in front of u. Ui is [wei], not [we] !!

18. ㄨ(u) vs. ㄩ(u or ü or v) • The confusion ofㄨ/ㄩ is a weakness of pinyin, which is limited by the number of Roman alphabets. • Some consonants can be followed only by one of them (e.g. “y” is only followed byㄩ). • Some can be followed by both. In such cases, useü or v to represent ㄩ . • However, if there is no chance for confusion, other ㄩ stay as u, not ü.

19. Drillsfor each of the vowels, practice all 4 tones • (ㄨ) -u1, -u2, -u3, -u4 • (ㄩ) -ü/u1, -ü/u2, -ü/u3, -ü/u4 • (ㄨㄚ) -ua1, -ua2, -ua3, -ua4 • * (ㄩㄝ) -ue1, -ue2, -ue3, -ue4 • (ㄨㄟ) -ui1, -ui2, -ui3, -ui4 • (ㄨㄛ) -uo1, -uo2, -uo3, -uo4

20. Activity 2.2 Tone calling (u) • (same group) adapt a DIFFERENT tone (1, 2, 3, 4). • Same rules!

21. Pinyin vowels

22. -iu (ㄧㄡ) , -ui (ㄨㄟ) • Both cause massive confusion even for native speakers • (ㄧㄡ) -iu is i-ou (as in YO-YO), not letter [U] • (ㄨㄟ) -ui is [wei], not [we] • Practice -iu1, -iu2, -iu3, -iu4 -ui1, -ui2, -ui3, -ui4

23. Activity 2.3 Vowel Calling • (Same groups of 4 or 5) each student adapts a Roman alphabet (a, e, i, o, u). • Take your vowel on a piece of paper. • A word is given by the instructor. If the pinyin of this word contains your alphabet (doesn’t matter the order), stand up. • The first group to get the correct answer gets the point!

24. Homework • Practice all 4 tones of the vowel combos (slide 21) once per day! • Quiz next week